Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has described the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC’s) arrest and detention of a former Minister of Power, Dr. Olu Agunloye over $6 billion alleged fraud, as unjust.
Soyinka, in a statement, “In pursuit of justice, productivity, under the rule of law” on Tuesday, said the arrest over Mambilla Power Project alleged fraud, was a total contempt of sense and justice.
Soyinka, therefore, requested the EFCC to release all its prisoners or, in the alternative, equally arrest and detain all those involved in “this mammoth scam” of the Mambilla power project.
“Concerning governance, there is never any moment too early, nor demand too drastic in calling for the overhaul of security agencies where their activities intrude on the fundamental rights of the citizen.
“The practice of citizen detention at the whim of either religious blackmail or secular arrogation demands curtailment at source, most especially when exercised in defiance of the law, and the pronouncements of its agencies. Anything less goes to remind us that anarchy remains a choice for citizen recourse, with unpredictable consequences.
“The immediate provocation for these reflections is ongoing predicament of a former Minister of Power, Dr. Olu Agunloye, currently detained by the EFCC, in total contempt of sense and justice, or indeed, basic humane considerations.
“We shall not go into the merit or demerits of the charges raised against him over a 16-year old project that bears the name Manbilla. – that is the business of the law courts. Our concern at this moment is however only partially on the basis of individual Fundamental Human Rights,” the statement reads.
